Grand Prix means street racing; St. Pete tourism

[SportscarBruce]

has a very nice piece on the upcoming race;


Welcome Race Fans!

The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg returns April 3-5, 2009 and kicks off an exciting 2009 season IndyCar Circuit.

This will be the fifth running of the event, with race action on a temporary street circuit in beautiful downtown St. Petersburg. Drivers will race at speeds in excess of 170 mph through the streets of St. Petersburg and the Albert Whitted Airport, overlooking the picturesque city waterfront.

Graham Rahal, who became the youngest driver ever to win an IndyCar race, will be back in St. Petersburg to defend his title. Also racing in the 2009 Grand Prix is superstar Danica Patrick and her Andretti Green #7 racing team. Danica is the first and only woman to ever win a race in the IndyCar Circuit, winning the IndyJapan 300 in April of 2008. She finished 10th in last year's Grand Prix and is looking for a big finish at this year's season opening event. Adding to the excitement is the debut of team co-owner and 2008 Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee, Michael Andretti, as Danica's strategist for the 2009 IndyCar Series.

http://www.floridasbeach.com/cms/index.php?id=245&CMP=KNC-GrandPrix09&HBX_PK=f1_racing&HBX_OU=50

[Easy Drifter]

Rahl who won the race gets a line and a half.
'Stompin' Danica, a complete also ran gets the rest of the story.
Not right but that is the PR game for you.

[SportscarBruce]

Rahl who won the race gets a line and a half.
'Stompin' Danica, a complete also ran gets the rest of the story.
Not right but that is the PR game for you.

If you want to see injustice I have every episode of a certain TV talk show DVD, including the most exciting Indy 500 pole day in years that featured a unified series Mario Dominguez pushing it to the limit & paying the price in the closing seconds. 40 min of yuk yuk with Carl Edwards and 10 minutes of Scott Dixon...yep, the PR game isn't fair.

[Rex Monaco]

40 min of yuk yuk with Carl Edwards and 10 minutes of Scott Dixon...

It wasn't always that way. There was a time, not that long ago, when open wheeled racing was the top American motorsport. You can't blame it's present lower place on the ladder on the tv commentators. They are just giving the public what they want.

[SarahFan]

I'm sorry... and being fully aware that I will labeled (again) good seasons salad dressing heavy on the acid...

but "danica" and "superstar" don't belong in the same sentence...


I know the IRL can't control what reporters write..... but this is fast becoming a slippery slope for the IRL...

look no further than the RHR/Izod situation...

if 2009 shows poorly for her and the 7mil motorola cash disappears the IRL might be in a rough spot come contract time for 2010

[SportscarBruce]

It wasn't always that way. There was a time, not that long ago, when open wheeled racing was the top American motorsport. You can't blame it's present lower place on the ladder on the tv commentators. They are just giving the public what they want.

Ha. Maybe I should share the Windtunnel episodes from Jan through May. With unification, Graham Rahal's win, DP's win, a festival atmosphere at Long Beach both in the stands and paddock, new sponsors, JustMarketing's bullish statement on the value of IndyCar, the momentum was building a bit too fast me thinks. Robin Miller's newfound enthusiasm together with his merged open wheel material practically disappeared during May.

Making sure the public doesn't want anything else.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Bruce..you saying Robin Miller is on the take? Someone is on the take? Just curious where you would get THAT from...

[Rex Monaco]

Making sure the public doesn't want anything else.

I guess there are people who only get their viewpoints from Bill O'Riley or Sean Hannity too. Luckily for the rest of us, we can change the channel or pick up a paper or a magazine.

[anthonyvop]

Another St. Pete preview.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/142498-indy-cars-set-to-roar-into-st-pete

[dataman1]

Wow! A newspaper article without mentioning Danica??? Obviously not a reprint from the IRL marketing department.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

I don't know what is more tiresome for me these days, the Danica mania or the Danica bashing in basically every thread. :rolleyes:

[SarahFan]

I don't know what is more tiresome for me these days, the Danica mania or the Danica bashing in basically every thread. :rolleyes:

give it another 7 months and it will all be over

[SportscarBruce]

give it another 7 months and it will all be over

And another 7 months and 7 days to start all over again, no matter if she wins 0 races or the title and a baby Borg-Warner. Picking IRL over CC and NASCAR respectively will do that, but that's my theory, your mileage may vary.

[dataman1]

Dear Dr.K,

The post above was bashing the IRL pulicists not Danica. This newspaper wrote its own piece rather than paste in an IRL press release. I am happy to see it.

[SarahFan]

And another 7 months and 7 days to start all over again, no matter if she wins 0 races or the title and a baby Borg-Warner. Picking IRL over CC and NASCAR respectively will do that, but that's my theory, your mileage may vary.

you misssed the m,eaning of that post entirely Bruce...


not supriseing considering all you do lately is run around projecting onto others how we should act feel and post

sad really

[SarahFan]

http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=13401


^everyone is saying all the right things... that of coarse is not supriseing


but in the end the proof is in the pudding... or a combination of sponsor dollars and results